Success

Everybody wants to make it in this society. Why isnt it
enough to be making?Elizabeth
Wenscott

Carla
Sciaky put together a panel to discuss the issue of redefining success
at the Folk Alliance conference.
There was a good deal of emotion expressed by panelists and audiencewhy
do we do what we do, when few of us who work in this musical form ever make
a decent living at it? What is success?

The notion of success attracts a horde of sneaky psychological bugaboos.
Its usually thought of as something you ought to be, implying that
whatever you are isnt good enough. It takes your happiness out of the
present. To think of success or failure as something you can be is crippling.
You can never be a success, although you will experience different
kinds of successand failuredaily. If you take them as measures
of your ability, and not as measures of your worth, youll be a freer
person. They ought to be equally acceptable.
Haim
Ginott says labelling is disabling for developing children,
and it is just as destructive to developing adults.

If I am an entertainer whose job it is to draw X number of people
and sell X number of units, I can measure the results. If its
my job to touch people through music, the results, and rewards, are immeasurable.
If I go about my job honorably, Im as legitimate an artist as anyone.
There is no label, or agent, or gig, or deal, that can make me a more valuable
human being, and the chances are Ill do better on the business end
if I bring my self-esteem to the table, and not hope for it to be granted
from outside.

Lies weave their way into our language, words we use unconsciously that affect
the way we think, love and experience ourselves in the world. An example:
when my daughter was four, we were walking past a garden, and I said,
Casey, look at the flowers! Which one is your favorite?and
instantly felt that Id screwed up. So I said, Well, theyre
all beautiful, arent they? Because once you have a favorite,
you arent really looking at the others anymore. And its a short
road from thinking that one flower is better than another, to thinking that
one person is better than another.
Low
self-esteem is pervasive in our society, and what we all experience as
our own private little worry chamber is part of a larger problem. Were
taught to compete in this society, that one is the best and the
others are less.

everyone is thirsting
each of us a fountain
its just that we forgetErin
Corday

Artists are often people who grow up with a sense of being isolated from
their families and/or communitieswhether by trauma, an unusual way
of seeing, or possession of a special gift. Art is a means of expressing
things that dont exist in daily conversation. The artist transforms
her experience into a shareable form, so that it can exist outside of her.
If other people recognize and receive the art the artist is freed of her
burden of uniquenessshe has found a road home into ordinary life.

Lets look at the conventional notion of success in the music business.
For an artist, its a major label deal. Artists are termed rising
stars
(Icarus
was one), who are trying to get to the next level and make
it. Young artists signed to major labels almost invariably begin to
produce inferior work shortly thereafter. They were trying to make a
connectionand they were removed from ordinary life, put in a spotlight
and treated as if they are more important than other people. Its an
insidious form of psychological crucifixion. Why do they fall for it? Just
hungry, like all of us, for a little basic human recognition. Its something
we could all give one another constantly, but mostly we dont. Our true
wealth, infinite in a way that our oil and water and air are not, is the
power of creativity and the spirit of love. Lacking love, we fumble with
our rosary of addictions, and fame can be one of those addictions. You
cant get enough of it; it wont make you happy.

Americans have ceased, to a large degree, to be present in our own lives.
We are all miracles. Yet we walk around bored. Politicians speak of growth,
never of balance. Why should we grow? Is a successful life one which amasses
wealth? What is the value of reading a book? Ive always had a problem
with these lines from
Satisfied
Mind.  its so hard to find/One rich man in ten,
with a satisfied mind. Its just as hard to find one poor man
in ten with a satisfied mind. Life is difficult. Mortality is everyones
burden. What is success? In your life, its what you decide that it
is. Maybe its having time for friendships. Maybe its learning
to be kind to yourself. Maybe its financial security. Maybe its
a tapestry of things. Maybe its okay to fail.

As president of a record label, for me success means putting out the music
I love the most. Ive tried to build a company based on serving the
public interest and maintaining a spirit of community among the artists.
Waterbug is largely
an artists co-op. All the artists own their recordings and publishing
rights. In a very real sense, the label cannot be bought. Cooperative efforts
include artists selling each others recordings from the stage, sharing
gigs, etc. 20 artists contributed a song and part of the cost of manufacturing
a label sampler which each of us sell from the stage for $5. We are working
cooperatively to help each other get heard. Any group of artists could do
this. I think less star mentality and more cooperation could
go a long way toward restoring honor to the term Folk. Ive
suggested to the Folk Alliance that we transform Folk Music and Dance
Month into a series of benefits for
Habitat and related
organizations, working through a network of churches.

Eileen McGann
was the last to speak at the Success workshop: We as folk musicians
do a really extraordinary thing, here at the end of the twentieth century,
I think we live in an age where community almost doesnt exist in Western
culture. people are increasingly urbanized, increasingly isolated,
nobody knows their neighbors. Whether were singing to 200 people or
to 12 people, we create community. you dont fight with people
youre harmonizing with. Were successful as community
builders.

My daughter is ten now, and a gifted dancer looking to be a professional.
Doing my job as a parent to talk her out of it, I said, Casey, its
tough to make a living in the arts. Ive had a hard time. She
said, But you made it, Dad. People pay you to play.